


everyone can see it (but neither of you are looking)

by mac_irony



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Banter, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slow Burn, Spitfire - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-17 21:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9345908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mac_irony/pseuds/mac_irony
Summary: All of their friends knew that they were long gone for each other, but Wally and Artemis are hopelessly oblivious.(I swear this is better than it sounds, I'm awful at summaries)





	1. Kaldur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaldur is the mom-friend, confirmed.

Kaldur was absolutely the “mom-friend” of his friend group. He was the one bringing water bottles to parties, holding Conner back when Wally got a little too friendly with M’gann, killing the PDA sprees between Jade and Roy, et cetera. Being the “mom-friend” came with many responsibilities and he gladly accepted the role. I mean, some one had to keep them from harm, so why not him?

Most often, he was in charge of separating Wally and Artemis before their “friendly banter” became “Wally, I might murder you if you don’t start running in 3, 2-”. This was so common of an occurrence that sometimes if they were taking too long to get to lunch one day, or if they were MIA at break, or something of the like, Kaldur was the unfortunate soul who was sent to make sure there weren’t any funerals to plan. 

It was a well-known fact in their group that Wally and Artemis had been friends longer than almost anyone else in their group, so it should be no surprise that the two were incredibly close. However, with their bickering to serve as constant background noise to any event they were present for, Kaldur easily forgot that they actually sometimes enjoyed each other’s company. So, when most of the time when he was sent on these “rescue missions” as Wally described them, the two weren’t in danger at all. More often than not, Kaldur would simply make his way back to their friends without even making himself known.

So on the multiple times he was sent to prevent having to bail them out of jail only finding them getting along, he would simply watch for a minute, just to be sure that it wasn’t the calm before a massive storm, then leave with a clear conscience.   
____

Today was no different from any other, with their friends sprawled out on a blanket M’gann had brought in the middle of the courtyard during a free period, spouting alien conspiracy theories and poking fun at each other as usual. It was about 15 minutes in before anyone had noticed that Wally and Artemis weren’t present. 

“Ugh, it’s so hot out here,” M’gann groaned, flopping down on the blanket. A few nods and murmurs of agreement followed, but the silence that was usually filled by Wally’s remarks didn’t go unnoticed.

“Where’s Wally?” Roy asked, his eyebrow moving up his forehead. 

“Probably trying to get Ms. Lance to raise his grade and epically failing,” Dick snickered and adjusted his sunglasses.

“Come to think of it, Artemis isn’t here either,” Jade said, a suggestive tone creeping into her voice. All eyes turned to Kaldur in a creepily synchronized fashion. He let out a sigh and pushed himself to his feet. 

“You are aware that they actually get along occasionally, right? I’m sure they’re fine.” 

“Yeah, but the other 87 percent of the time they don’t and do we really want to take that chance? Besides, you’re the only one that they’ll both listen to,” Dick said, stretching his arms out to place behind his head. 

“You all worry too much,” Kaldur sighed and made his way off to find them.  
____

It never took Kaldur long to find them. Most often they were just sitting at a cafe table in the student common area, just as they were when Kaldur turned the corner. He prided himself on his ability to blend into the background, and did so, just listening to their conversation.

“Wally, if you actually tried, you’d pass that class with top scores. It’s not that difficult,” Artemis said, flipping through a textbook and a notebook simultaneously.

“Hey! I do try! She’s just failing me because I made that comment one time at the beginning of the year-”

“It was yesterday and that was the 13th one this trimester.”

“One time, and still that’s no reason to fail me!” Wally cried, slouching back in his chair with a frustrated groan.

“Dude, you’re the top student in AP Chem and that’s the hardest class that’s offered here. Surely, AP Psychology shouldn’t be that difficult,” Artemis said. Kaldur could practically hear her rolling her eyes. 

“Okay, yeah, sure but I like chemistry. It makes sense. Psychology is boring, and there aren’t any cool labs,” Wally shrugged, rolling his neck. 

“Whatever, Wally. I’m only here because you asked for help. If you’re just going to waste my time-” 

“No!” The interjection was startling enough to catch Kaldur’s attention again. He looked back at them to see Wally holding Artemis’s wrist, who was standing and appeared to have reached across the table to grab something. Wally was looking at her as if he would fall apart if she left and the look in Artemis’s eyes was dangerously close to what Kaldur would consider fondness.

“Stay, please,” Wally said, his tone softer than it usually was when around the blonde.

“Okay,” came her equally gentile response as she slowly lowered herself back into her seat. 

Kaldur took note of the fact that her didn’t let go of her wrist until a few moments later. He only stayed a few more moments before leaving to head back to where the rest of his friends were.

As he walked back, he went over what he had just witnessed. He had never seen the two act that way around each other, at least not to that extent. If he didn’t know any better he would have thought that they liked each other. The way they looked at each other was so incredibly different from the glares they usually shot at one another; Kaldur was thoroughly perplexed.

He’d just keep a careful eye on them from now on. He didn’t want either of them getting hurt, let alone by the hand of one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to let me know if you liked it!!! I'm already working on chapter 2 and it's looking pretty good so look forward to that!
> 
> If you want to come scream with me on tumblr here I am: http://mac-irony.tumblr.com/


	2. Jade & Roy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Criminal Minds turns it's viewers into dectectives

Date night for Jade and Roy was surprisingly always a calm event. They usually just spent their free nights lounging on one another’s couches, or if on the rare occasion they decided to go out, it was to a small cafe or the like. Nothing too extravagant.

Tonight was a surprise night off for both of them, so they decided that watching Criminal Minds reruns in Jade’s living room was the perfect way to go. It was quiet and calm and just how it should be. That is, until Artemis got home.

“Oh my god you’ve got to be kidding me,” she moaned as she hip-bumped her way through the front door, holding her gym bag in one hand, a grocery bag in the other hand, her school bag on her back, and with her phone pressed haphazardly between her ear and shoulder.

“You need help Arty?” Roy asked, leaning his head over the back of the sofa. 

She looked up at the sound of his voice, glared at the hated nickname before shaking her head and kicking the door closed with her heel. The person on the other end of her call was talking up a storm and the indiscernible chatter could be heard throughout the room.

Jade turned to face her and quietly said, “Mom’s working late tonight, so we’re on our own. You good?”

Artemis nodded again before returning to her conversation with an amused yet exasperated tone, saying, “Dude, that is the dumbest thing I have heard in a long time. And I talk to you on a daily basis.” She then made her way into the kitchen and began putting together her dinner with the groceries she had brought.

Jade and Roy turned back to each other with a shrug before turning back to their show. Roy asked at a lower tone, “Who do you think she’s on the phone with?”

“First guess would probably be Wally. Surprisingly enough, they talk quite a bit outside of school,” came the brunette’s reply, gaze not moving from the screen. She continued, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were together.”

Roy gave a nod and glanced over at Artemis in the kitchen. She appeared to be chopping up some sort of fruit or vegetable with the phone still held between her shoulder and ear. She had a small smile on her face as Wally, presumably, jabbered on. 

“Are you sure they aren’t?” he said, nudging Jade to look at her sister. 

When she turned to look, the smile on Artemis’s face had grown even bigger as she let out a small chuckle and a “Shut up, you geek.”

Roy turned to her with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk, only receiving a puzzled look in response. “I’m going to look into it more. Is there any way you could look into it on Wally’s end a little more?” she said, already formulating a plan in her mind.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said, watching as his girlfriend sat back into her sofa, wheels turning.  
____

Roy went to Kaldur first. If anyone would have noticed it before they had, it would be him.

“Are you asking me if I think Wally and Artemis are dating?” Kaldur asked almost incredulously. 

Roy gave a nod and continued looking at him expectantly. 

Kaldur sighed and responded, “Dating: no. Interested: possibly.” He continued when prompted by his friend, “The way he looks at her is not dissimilar from the way you look at Jade. And she definitely doesn’t hate him as much as she lets on. Whether that is just because they’ve been friends for a long time or if it is because of something more, I am unsure.”

“Alright,” Roy said, contemplating his next move. How was he to approach Wally about this without outright accusing him? There had to be a more subtle way to do it…

“May I ask why you want to know my opinion?” Kaldur questioned, folding his arms across his chest.

“Jade was wondering. We caught them on the phone the other night and there were just some signs. I’m not sure exactly way, but it kind of freaked Jade out, and she wanted me to check it out a little. And I figured that you’d be the first one to figure it out if anything so I wanted to get your thoughts before asking the kid himself,” Roy rambled off. 

When he paused for a moment, Kaldur placed a hand on his shoulder and with his signature mom-friend voice, cautioned, “I understand. The two of them are an interesting case if I’ve ever seen one. However, be careful when talking to Wally. If he does like her, it is highly likely that he will be in deep denial about it and profusely refuse the idea. And if that is the case the likelihood that anything positive would come of this for them is slim to none.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” he said, leaning against the cinderblock walls of the hallway.

This is what he gets for agreeing to meddle in juniors’ love lives.  
____

Jade took the more direct route and went straight to Artemis herself.

She found her sister tapping away at her laptop in their shared bedroom later in the evening one night and decided it was better now than never. “So how are things with your boy-toy?” Jade teased, bending down to rest her head in her hand on Artemis’s desk.

“My boy-toy?” Artemis parroted. She looked up at gave her sister a look.

“Yes. Oh, you know…” Jade dragged out the vowels and pauses in her sentences. “The one you’re constantly talking to, and hanging out with, and so on and so forth…”

“You’re delusional,” Artemis said with a loving roll of her eyes before turning back to her work.

“Nuh-uh-uh. Arty, you can’t lie to me. You know that.”

“I’m not lying? It’s slightly offending that you think I am?” Artemis ended her sentences in question marks, completely turning her full attention to her sister.

“Sis, I am not blind. Practically anyone could see the sparks flying between you and the Wall-man,” Jade clarified while putting up air quotes around Wally’s self-given nickname.

Artemis let out a loud laugh. Sis,” she started, firm but also joking, “if there was anything between Wally and I, (which there’s not!) you’d know before I did, and we both know that.” 

Jade wasn’t so sure she didn’t.  
____

“What did you find?” Jade asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“Kaldur thinks there is something there, he’s just not sure to what extent,” Roy reported matching his girlfriend’s stance. “I would have asked Wally, but I figured that he would get too defensive if I asked and I wanted to avoid interfering too much.”

“Artemis can’t see it herself, but she even admitted herself that if there was anything like this between them, then she’d be the last person to know.”

"Agreed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heylo friends!! Here's chapter 2! I really really really hope you like it!! Next chapter is gonna be fun one I'm excited!!!!!!
> 
> If you wanna come scream at me on tumblr I am @mac-irony <333


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